Research has been done in the Netherlands over whether fears about lack of safety of a few years ago have been justified in some places. The article below was published this morning in the Volkskrant about the findings of a huge research done at the behest of the Dutch Research and Documentation Centre of the Department of Justice. The findings are presented in more detail in the Dutch House of Representatives Today.

My translation of the article can be read below. To my mind, it points towards “untruths” given to residents of most Middle-European people by propaganda reporting “neighbourhoods in the city of (you name it) in” Belgium, Sweden, France, Germany, Britain etc, where “locals do not dare to go out into the streets”, “which are ruled by hordes of migrants” and the like, even making bold statements about the Netherlands based on statements and opinions by Gerd Wilders, leader of the second most supported party in the country. Whoever can claim for sure that the Netherlands is an exception from these phenomena are absolved of the burden of reading about the situation there, but others are advised to read the article to learn about the truth. I think the Netherlands is just as representative of the problems as the other countries mentioned above, consequently, these findings may be indicative of the true size of the problems in other parts of Europe.

” ‘Robuust’ research proves: Setting up a refugee centre does not lead to less safety in the neighbourhood

The WODC has examined statistical data from the CBS.

Safety in a neighbourhood does not decline after the arrival of a reception centre for asylum seekers. Local residents face no more risk of becoming victims of crime. This is the conclusion of the Research and Documentation Centre of the Department of Justice (WODC) after an analysis of statistical data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The results will be presented to the House on Thursday.

By: Marjon Bolwijn, 1 February 2018, 02:00

Fear of insecurity and rising crime three years ago was a major reason for strong protests from citizens in several municipalities where asylum seekers’ centres were planned. In 2014 and 2015 the number of asylum seekers, particularly from Syria and Eritrea, sharply rose. Sometimes citizens’ protests turned into riots and police intervention.

Meanwhile, the influx of asylum seekers has abated and the discussion has been silenced. The question remains whether opponents of a reception centre were right in saying that insecurity would increase. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice asked the WODC to investigate. Conclusion: the chance of becoming a victim of a criminal offence has not demonstrably risen with the arrival of a reception centre for asylum seekers. Researchers have found that there is a difference of 0.03 percent, which is statistically “insignificant”.

‘Rabble-rousing’

‘Robust research, no question’, says criminologist Jan van Dijk of Tilburg University. The results do not surprise him. ‘The vast majority of asylum seekers are keen to make something of their lives. They think ten times before they commit a crime,’ says Van Dijk. In his opinion, the conclusions of the WODC suggest that the protests were ‘a projection of fears’ and ‘rabble-rousing by a political party as the PVV’.

The WODC compared all the inhabitants of Dutch neighbourhoods with and without asylum seekers in 2015, 2010 and 2005. It was also examined whether registered crime in neighbourhoods was higher in years with than in years without asylum seekers in the period 2010-2015. In addition, the researchers compared offender profiles of asylum seekers with those of other population groups.

Safe countries

It is not that no asylum seekers commit offences. Earlier research already showed that mainly light property crimes, such as shoplifting, are involved. Because the safety in the neighbourhood does not demonstrably change after the arrival of an asylum centre, the researchers of the WODC suspect criminal offences committed in the reception centre itself or in a city centre in the wider area will presumably be committed. Two-thirds of the offenders are young men from safe countries in North Africa, for example, who do not have a chance to get a residence permit. ‘Adventurers who have nothing to lose,”says criminologist Jan van Dijk.

Compared to their counterparts of similar age, counterparts of the same gender, and people with low socio-economic status among the Dutch population, asylum seekers are somewhat under-represented in police statistics, also when it comes to sexual crimes. The majority of the offences are committed by young men. ‘If a few thousand people are added, it makes sense that crime will increase, but in absolute terms, we are talking about small numbers’, says Jan Wahideh of the WODC.

The greatest outrage over asylum seekers was felt in de Beverwaard, but there is nothing left of it there

The suffering from asylum seekers that residents of Rotterdam were afraid of at the coming of asylum seekers has not materialised. This is consistent with the findings of the WODC Research Institute. ‘We were stirred up,’ says a resident in the neighbourhood. (+)”